A systematic review of work interventions to promote safe patient handling and movement in the healthcare sector.

Objectives. The aim of this systematic review was to describe interventions which promote safe patient handling and movement (PHM) among workers in healthcare by reviewing the literature on their effectiveness for work and health-related outcomes. Methods. Databases were searched for studies published during 1997-2018. Measures were operationalized broadly, capturing outcomes of work and health. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies with a control group were included. Quality was assessed using evidence-based checklists by the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services. Results. The systematic review included 10 RCTs and 19 cohort studies. Providing work equipment and training workers is effective: it can increase usage. Training workers to be peer coaches is associated with fewer injuries. Other effective strategies are participatory ergonomics and management engagement in collaboration with workers, facilitating safe PHM. Conclusions. This systematic review suggests that interventions for safe PHM with an impact of health-related outcomes should include access to work equipment, training as well as employer and employee engagement. The additional impact of multifaceted interventions is inconclusive.

Structured physiotherapy including a work place intervention for patients with neck and/or back pain in primary care: an economic evaluation.

A cluster-randomized controlled trial, WorkUp, was conducted for working-aged patients at risk of sick leave or on short-term sick leave due to acute/subacute neck and/or back pain in Sweden. The purpose of WorkUp was to facilitate participants to stay at work or in case of sick leave, return-to-work. The aim of this study was to study whether the WorkUp trial was cost-effective. Patients in the intervention and reference group received structured evidence-based physiotherapy, while patients in the intervention group also received a work place dialogue with the employer as an add-on. The participants, 352 in total, were recruited from 20 physiotherapeutic units in primary healthcare in southern Sweden. The economic evaluation was performed both from a healthcare and a societal perspective with a 12-month time frame with extensive univariate sensitivity analyses. Results were presented as incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) with outcomes measured as quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) and proportion working for at least 4 weeks in a row without reported sick leave at 12-month follow-up. From the healthcare perspective, the ICER was €23,606 (2013 price year) per QALY gain. From the societal perspective the intervention was dominating, i.e.. less costly and more effective than reference care. Bootstrap analysis showed that the probability of the intervention to be cost-effective at €50,000 willingness-to-pay per QALY was 85% from the societal perspective. Structured evidence-based physiotherapeutic care together with workplace dialogue is a cost-effective alternative from both a societal and a healthcare perspective for acute/subacute neck and/or back pain patients.Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02609750.

Referring to multimodal rehabilitation for patients with musculoskeletal disorders - a register study in primary health care.

BACKGROUND: In 2008, the Swedish government introduced a National Rehabilitation Program, in which the government financially reimburses the county councils for evidence-based multimodal rehabilitation (MMR) interventions. The target group is patients of working age with musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), expected to return to work or remain at work after rehabilitation. Much attention in the evaluations has been on patient outcomes and on processes. We lack knowledge about how factors related to health care providers and community can have an impact on how patients have access to MMR. The aim of this study was therefore to study the impact of health care provider and community related factors on referrals to MMR in patients with MSD applying for health care in primary health care. METHODS: This was a primary health care-based cohort study based on prospectively ascertained register data. All primary health care centres (PHCC) contracted in Region Skåne in 2010-2012, referring to MMR were included (n = 153). The health care provider factors studied were: community size, PHCC size, public or private PHCC, whether or not the PHCCs provided their own MMR, burden of illness and the community socioeconomic status among the registered population at the PHCCs. The results are presented with descriptive statistics and for the analysis, non-parametric and multiple linear regression analyses were applied. RESULTS: PHCCs located in larger communities sent more referrals/1000 registered population (p = 0.020). Private PHCCs sent more referrals/1000 registered population compared to public units (p = 0.035). Factors related to more MMR referrals/1000 registered population in the multiple regression analyses were PHCCs located in medium and large communities and with above average socioeconomic status among the registered population at the PHCCs, private PHCC and PHCCs providing their own MMR. The explanation degree for the final model was 24.5%. CONCLUSIONS: We found that referral rates to MMR were positively associated with PHCCs located in medium and large sized communities with higher socioeconomic status among the registered population, private PHCCs and PHCCs providing their own MMR. Patients with MSD are thus facing significant inequities and were thus not offered the same opportunities for referrals to rehabilitation regardless of which PHCC they visited.

Sick leave in Sweden before and after total joint replacement in hip and knee osteoarthritis patients.

Background and purpose - Little is know about patterns of sick leave in connection with total hip and knee joint replacement (THR and TKR) in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Patients and methods - Using registers from southern Sweden, we identified hip and knee OA patients aged 40-59 years who had a THR or TKR in the period 2004-2012. Patients who died or started on disability pension were excluded. We included 1,307 patients with THR (46% women) and 996 patients with TKR (56% women). For the period 1 year before until 2 years after the surgery, we linked individual-level data on sick leave from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. We created a matched reference cohort from the general population by age, birth year, and area of residence (THR: n = 4,604; TKR: n = 3,425). The mean number of days on sick leave and the proportion (%) on sick leave 12 and 24 months before and after surgery were calculated. Results - The month after surgery, about 90% of patients in both cohorts were on sick leave. At the two-year follow-up, sick leave was lower for both cohorts than 1 year before surgery, except for men with THR, but about 9% of the THR patients and 12-17% of the TKR patients were still sick-listed. In the matched reference cohorts, sick leave was constant at around 4-7% during the entire study period. Interpretation - A long period of sick leave is common after total joint replacement, especially after TKR. There is a need for better knowledge on how workplace adjustments and rehabilitation can facilitate the return to work and can postpone surgery.